“Why do you always defend each other?”
“Why do you think?” he shot back.
“Did you really save Will’s life?”
“So what?”
The way he said that so casually made me speechless.
“James, what happened to Will?”
There hadn’t been a single answer in our exchange, just questions that kept piling up on top of each other.
“It happened two years ago. Ari had just dumped him. I found him—” He gulped loudly, like the conversation was too painful to face. “I found him lying unconscious on his bathroom floor. If I hadn’t gotten there, it definitely . . .”
“What about the guy you beat up? What happened to him?” I changed course because James seemed too upset from telling me what had happened to William.
“He had a concussion. He recovered in the hospital.”
“And then?”
“I don’t know.” He pushed his lips out nonchalantly.
“Did he press charges?”
I watched him run a finger through his tousled hair while the look on his face hardened.
“No.”
“And why not? Did they kick him out of school?” James nodded slightly, nervously biting his lip.
“Did you ever see him again?”
“Not at school,” he said curtly. “All right, enough, Sherlock. It’s my turn to ask questions. Why did you wanna get out of the house in such a rush?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do you mean?” He parroted me in a whiny voice.
“Look, what I do is none of your business. Take me home, and that’s it,” I insisted obstinately, crossing my arms across my chest.
“Fuck, it would do you good.”
“What?”
He hit the brakes so abruptly that I grabbed my seat belt so I wouldn’t fly out the window.
“James!” I shouted, flying into a rage. “God da—”
I swallowed a curse word as he stopped the car suddenly and got out. Perplexed, I watched his tall, imposing figure circle the car body.
I stuck my head out the window and saw that he was putting on the hoodie.
“What are you doing?”
“Get in the car,” he ordered.
“I’m in the car, idiot!”
